A Little Thing Called SelfRespect
by Tik
Summary: Keith's back to normal . . . and he wants revenge! But he's not the one who's dueling Joey - who is this mysterious boy with the scar? And why is he dueling for Keith? Joey-centric, rated for swearing, threats, and implied abuse. I need help, see inside!


'Lo, all! First the important stuff: I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh, Joey-centric fics are the best, and bash Anzu. This is a fic idea I got from trying to write something involving Joey's life without directly talking about it. This is part one, and I have a VERY important question to ask all of you at the end. All flames will be collected, recorded, and distributed among the needy. ------------------------------------------------------  
  
"So, let me get this straight," Tristan said for the umpteenth time.  
  
Joey sighed and repeated, "I got this note saying to be at the Dueling Arenas at 5:00 today." It was five minutes till. "The person said he wanted to talk to me about something he's had to 'postpone for a while'."  
  
"Maybe he's someone you dueled against who wants another shot," Yugi offered.  
  
Joey laughed. "Yeah, sure. Except most of the guys I've dueled would at least leave their names. I think this guy's afraid his name will put me on my guard, or scare me off."  
  
Tea nodded and looked around. "Well, he doesn't seem to be here, so -"  
  
"Wait, who's that?" Yugi pointed at a person standing in the doorway of the entrance hall to the public dueling arenas.  
  
All four of them stared at the boy. He was just a few years younger than they were, maybe thirteen or fourteen. Smoky hair fell over his forehead, blending in with his matching eyes. The particular shade of grey made the boy look much older, as if he had been through much more than anyone else his age. He wore a dirty sweatshirt and a pair of jeans.  
  
The thing that stood out was the long, thin scar that trailed from his right upper cheekbone down onto his chin, ending just under his face on the left side.  
  
Pale eyes stared at the four friends. Silently he walked past them and through the doors of one of the arenas. As he entered, he turned around and said in an oddly calm and quiet voice, "Rule Number One. Loser has to pay the fee."  
  
As he walked down onto the arena, Joey checked his pockets frantically. Renting a dueling arena for a battle - that wasn't cheep. Tristan frowned. "You don't think you're going to lose, do you, Joey?"  
  
He shook his head. "If that kid walks off without paying, though . . ."  
  
Yugi smiled. "Don't worry, Joey. Come on!"  
  
Joey took his place at the end of the arena. He smiled. After Battle City, these old-style arenas seemed almost ancient. Placing his deck on the slot in front of him, he turned to flash a smile at his friends, standing by the edge of the field. Then he turned to his opponent. "Who are you, anyway? I don't remember you."  
  
"Oh, you wouldn't, Wheeler." Joey spun around. The voice had come from the opposite side of the arena, where he could now see someone sitting in a folding chair next to the field. He remembered that voice . . . "It's me, you idiot, Bandit Keith."  
  
"Keith?"  
  
The blond man smiled and propped his feet up on the railing. "Yep. This is my chance to finally see you getting pounded, twerp. I trained Vince myself, and trust me, he'll beat you into the ground."  
  
Joey smirked. "What's the matter, Keith, too scared to duel me yourself?"  
  
The man yawned. "Nah, just too bored. Besides, why duel you when Vince can pound you just as easily? Right, Vince?"  
  
The boy's eyes glanced down to Keith, and Joey thought he caught a flash of some sort of emotion in the blank eyes. But it was soon gone, and he simply replied, "Yes, Keith. Should I tell them the other rules?"  
  
"Yeah, sure, kid."  
  
Vince turned back to Joey. "Rule Number Two: The winner of the duel is allowed to beat up the loser, and the winner can ask someone to help him."  
  
Joey did a double-take. "How much of a coward are you, Keith? You send someone else up here to risk getting hurt, and then you plan to beat me up if I loose?"  
  
Yugi and Tea held Tristan back as he struggled to run over and beat Keith up himself. "You coward, you call yourself a duelist . . ."  
  
"Calm down, Tristan. Right now, there's nothing we can do! The duel's already started." Joey fumed. "Well, I can do something. Listen, kid, I swear, I'm not gonna lay a finger on you, ok?"  
  
Keith laughed. "If Vince looses, I'm not gonna need your help." Another flash of emotion flickered in the small boy's eyes. "Start the duel, Vince, I'm tired of listening to this mushy crap."  
  
Looking down at his hand, Vince said, "I play one card face down, and set one monster. End turn."  
  
Joey grinned as he drew a card. "Alright! I summon Alligator Sword, and attack your face down monster." His grin widened as the weak monster was destroyed.  
  
But Vince didn't seem fazed at all. "I summon Neo the Magic Swordsman in attack mode. Attack Alligator Sword and end turn."  
  
Man, Joey thought, he's like a machine! At least he doesn't have Keith's machine deck . . . or does he? "Ok, then, I'll play Panther Warrior in attack mode. Since I don't have any monsters to sacrifice, I can't attack."  
  
Vince drew a card, and the ghost of a smile passed over his face. "Sacrifice Neo the Magic Swordsman for Beast of Talwar. I attach Black Pendant, and attack Panther Warrior."  
  
Joey winced. Down to 2900 already! He heard Yugi calling from the sidelines, "Don't worry, Joey, you can defeat this kid! You beat people better than this!"  
  
He grinned down at his friends and drew. "I'll put two cards face down on the field, and I'll play Hinotama, making you loose 500 life points." A flaming ball of fire hurled down from the field and hit Vince. All of the onlookers were slightly amazed to see a visible sign of emotion - the small boy instinctively covered his face with his arms and stepped back from the hologram.  
  
But in a moment, the trace of life was gone, and once again the boy stood silent.  
  
"And now I'll summon my Rocket Warrior in attack mode, and end my turn."  
  
In the stands, Tristan grinned. "Well, three guesses for Joey's face down cards."  
  
Tea snorted. "Although you have to admit it's a good strategy."  
  
Vince drew. "I play Noblemen of Extermination. One of your facedown cards is removed from play." Joey growled as he carefully set his Graceful Dice to the side. "And now, I attack."  
  
As expected, the second of Joey's Dice traps managed to bring Beast of Talwar's attack down, but not by much. Just enough to spare Joey a few hundred life points, making the score 3500/2500.  
  
TBC . . .  
  
------------------------------------------------------ IMPORTANT:  
  
I really, really suck at writing duels. Therefore, I need help! If anyone wants to make up Vince's deck (it has some cards from Keith's deck, but not a lot), and knows Joey's deck, could you PLEASE make up a bit of duel? I'll give you full credit. It has to end with each player at 1000 Life Points, Joey with a Thousand Eyes Dragon on his side, and Vince with a reborn Beast of Talwar, without the Black Pendant. (They have equal attack points, right?) PLEASE HELP ME! Otherwise, I'll just open up the second chapter with a "half an hour later" thing, or something. PLEASE R&R! THANKS! 


End file.
